


dropped from the heavens (they called me a dreamer)

by schadenfreudes



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: 97line dynamics, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Parallel Universes, also bongbongie is a dog in this dont ask why, the rest of the gang is mentioned in passing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-05 08:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11574699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schadenfreudes/pseuds/schadenfreudes
Summary: In times of crisis, it’s best not to panic,he remembers Jihoon hyung telling him once when he got himself stuck in a sweater that was apparently too tight for him. He tries to calm down and looking at the situation from the best possible angle.The stranger clears his throat behind him and speaks calmly once again, “My name is Wonwoo. Jeon Wonwoo.”au in which meanie are from parallel universes and meet only at dusk, where worlds converge on top of ley lines





	1. i. spring

**i. spring**

_**i will love you if i never see you again** _

“Hurry up, punks.” Minghao calls—well, yells from in front of them. Mingyu and Seokmin pick up their pace from downhill upwards because an irritated Minghao is not a pleasant Minghao. They clutch onto each other for moral support and quickly make their way up the steep hill where he waits.

 

“You guys are unbelievably slow. Maybe I _should_ have just gotten Jeongguk to check it out with me.” Minghao tuts at them, laughing teasingly at how much they were panting. He hands both of them water bottles, still cold, and flashlights just in case it got too dark.

 

The cotton of their uniform shirts stick to their backs from the light sheen of sweat that they broke coming up the hill. They take a long swig from their water bottles and start walking towards the abandoned house.  

 

Beforehand, their group agreed to meet on the slope where it was, in the late afternoon, nearing dusk. Over the last few weeks, Minghao had been reading a book on paranormal phenomena which, unfortunately for Seokmin and Mingyu, interested him a lot, leading to him ~~forcing~~ convincing the two to go on an adventure with him.

 

Out of the three of them, Minghao was always the most steadfast and adventurous. Most of the activities on Mingyu and Seokmin’s social calendar were thanks to his frequent requests to go out and do something fun. The two would go along since the resulting experiences would usually be pretty rewarding anyway.

 

_“Why not take someone who actually_ wants _to sacrifice their soul, like Jeongguk or something?” Mingyu whined that day. Seokmin nods silently beside him, perched on a desk and sipping a bottle of strawberry milk._

 

_“I really wanted to check it out together.” Minghao pouts cutely. “We haven’t gone out in so long because you two always seem too busy to spend time with me.” And he meant it in jest, there was no real bitterness in it, but it was true; they’ve started to call more and more rain checks on each other lately due to other engagements._

 

_Mingyu and Seokmin exchange glances in consideration. It wasn’t too much to ask after all. Minghao just seemed like he really wanted to spend time with them again. And no one could deny how platonically whipped they were when it came to their best friend. Besides, who on earth was immune to Minghao’s aegyo?_

The house they were going to was located in one of the outer neighborhoods in Seoul, just a few stations away from their district. The street was mostly lined with empty new houses that have either not been sold yet or were awaiting its occupants. Their particular location of interest was the only house in the neighborhood that wasn’t entirely new.

 

“You know for someone with such thunder thighs, you’re surprisingly slow going uphill.” Minghao comments offhandedly at Seokmin.

 

He scoffs in offense, “Sorry, but I wasn’t exactly too hyped to join whatever paranormal satanic ritual you wanted to do here. You _know_ I’m terrible at horror stuff.”

 

“Yeah, I do.” Minghao deadpans, “The last time we went to a haunted house attraction, the ghosts were afraid of _you._ Sometimes I still hear you, Seungkwan and Soonyoung hyung screaming in my dreams.”

 

Mingyu laughs, “It was a mistake to take the three noisiest people in Korea and put them in a haunted house anyway. Especially when two of them are vocally trained in falsettos.”

 

Seokmin opens his mouth in protest and closes it when Minghao sighs in exasperation.

 

“Anyway, I already told you so many times that this isn’t the scary kind of paranormal. It’s the natural phenomenon kind, something that has to do with leylines–”

 

“So the ‘people-go-missing’ kind? Oh man, that’s even better.” Mingyu interjects, dodging a punch on the shoulder from Minghao.

 

They finally reach the front door and at this point, Seokmin is visibly sweating. “I’ve seen too many episodes of Buzzfeed Unsolved to willingly go through this.”

 

Minghao checks the front door’s lock and distractedly responds, “But you love me so you’ll do this for me, right?”

 

Seokmin pauses in the realization that yes, he did love best friend that much. Minghao didn’t need to know that right now though, so he just frowns, “I’m doing this because I’m broke and I can’t pay you back right now with money so I’m sacrificing my autonomous right to a safe and secure life instead.”

 

“Ugh, can you stop? You’re starting to sound like your boyfriend.” Mingyu whines.

 

Seokmin makes an indignant noise at that, nose scrunching up in distaste, “I already told you to stop slandering Jihoon hyu–”

“Wait, quiet, I need you to take a look at this.” Minghao points to his compass. The needle was going in all sorts of directions and couldn’t settle, even when he slowly moved or placed it flat on his palm. It develops a sort of clockwise rotation and suddenly stops at magnetic north. Minghao tries shaking the compass again, but the needle stays put.

 

Seokmin goes still beside him, eyes frozen to the malfunctioning compass. Mingyu laughs nervously, “Well. It’s over. Satan is upon us.” he comments, using Minghao and Seokmin as a barricade and hiding behind them, in all of his proud 186 centimeters.

 

“If you don’t shut up, you’re going to be my first sacrifice to him.” Minghao says threateningly, forcibly removing Mingyu’s vice grip on his shoulders.

 

“Yongpallie,” Seokmin says pleadingly, his usual clear voice undeniably shaking, “Can we please go home? We can prove you’re a hardass another day. In a safer environment. Where Satan won’t eat our souls.”

 

Minghao feels a pang of guilt hit him. Seokmin looked genuinely scared and he suddenly feels bad for having asked him to do this with them. Still, the train tickets were already paid for, and he didn’t want this trip to be a waste.

 

“We’re already here, Seokminnie. Why should we waste this opportunity? Look, if it really bothers you, maybe you can just stand here as a lookout or something.” he reasons.

 

“Really? You mean that?” he asks, and Minghao nods. Seokmin exhales, relieved and grateful for his consideration. Minghao reaches into his bag and gives him a walkie talkie and a pocket game to play with: before the trip, they agreed not to turn on their phones in case it might disrupt any spiritual energies.

 

Seokmin sits on the top stair of the patio and gives them a thumbs up. “Good luck,” he mouths at Mingyu as his two friends make their way inside the house.

 

Contrary to what Mingyu thought, the house wasn’t dark on the inside; its interior was lined with quite a lot of windows, which let the late afternoon light settle through them. The inside was empty but tastefully so, far from the setting of a horror movie. The interior had rounded ceilings on the entryways and white pillars built into the walls.

 

Across the parlor, a winding staircase with marble steps and black iron banisters that led to the second floor decorates the wall. In another section of the wide receiving area, empty bookshelves stood next to the walls, forming a nook in the corner, probably built for a study.

 

“So I have a question.” Mingyu says, as they walk around farther inside the house.

 

Distracted, Minghao hums while getting his tools ready from his backpack. “Sure, what is it?”

 

“Why is it a life goal of yours to be a white guy in a horror movie?” Mingyu asks his best friend, both in sarcasm and genuine disbelief.

 

“Psh. So what does that make you? The dumb blonde?” he retorts.

 

“HEY.”

 

Minghao ignores his outcry and settles on the ground taking out the dowsing rods and other materials from his bag. “Alright, here’s a walkie talkie,” he says, handing it to Mingyu. “You’ll go around the house and tell me if something happens, I’ll be here trying to charge the lines.”

 

“And how exactly will you go about that?” Mingyu asks, taking the stuff he needed.

 

Minghao takes out some chalk and an old looking book, and shows it to him. It seems like the writing was in Mandarin. He gulps and prays that whatever Minghao’s trying to do isn’t too dangerous or scary for them to deal with. At best, it might truly just be myth and they can all go home unscathed. At worst–well Mingyu didn’t want to imagine that.

 

Minghao is already seated and is flipping through the pages, unlit incense on the floor beside him and holding dowsing rods in his other hand.

 

He goes upstairs and does what Minghao told him to do, looking through different rooms to search for anything strange while the lines are being charged.

 

He starts with the first room, a fairly big one that might have served as a salon or a master’s bedroom. The walls were powder blue, signs of age showing through the cracks near the ceiling. There was nothing visibly odd with the room itself, but Mingyu felt a bit lightheaded and his limbs felt heavy, as if the room was charged with a field of magnetic energy and he was on the same polar current, consequently becoming repelled in place.

 

Mingyu reaches for his walkie talkie, turning the dial on and pushing the button to communicate. “Hey, is it just me or does everything feel heavy all of a sudden?”

 

A moment passes and the device screeches, “I feel it too, don’t worry. It’s just the effects of the charging.” Minghao’s voice crackles through from it.

 

The next room was a bathroom, empty and tiled with white, the apple green of the toilet and sink serving as the only color in the room. A window above head for ventilation lets light pass through, and Mingyu could see the tiny particles of dust floating through. Mingyu watches those tiny specks, trying to catch them in his hands in the way that a 5-year old would, almost in a trance. Whatever Minghao was doing downstairs must have been working.

 

He goes into the third room on the left side of the corridor’s end. The room from the outside was the darkest since it was farthest from the light’s reach. Inside however, was just as bright as the other parts of the house, if not more. The room was considerably the brightest in the house. The walls were cream with white linings and the floor’s wood, though dusty, was a light shade of brown.

 

He feels a tiny bit of nausea hit him, and he stumbles, clutching a window ledge for support. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose to get rid of the dizziness. His center of gravity shifts and when he opens his eyes, Mingyu sees out the window, immediately observing how strange it was that the surroundings seemed to change from inside the house.

 

“Excuse me, what are you doing?” a deep voice asks from somewhere behind him.

“Nothing, just checking the–WAIT WHAT THE FUCK.” Mingyu yells and scrambles to brace the wall behind him. He drops the walkie talkie on the suddenly carpeted floor. A young man (ghost? demon? OH SHIT) holding a book, is suddenly there, calmly sitting on a window seat near him.

 

He’d been sure the house was empty. Minghao had already done an ocular beforehand, and according to him, no one has lived in the house for about two years already. Fear strikes him and he drops to the ground, getting closer to the wall and as far away from the stranger as possible.

 

“Oh god. Oh god, are you gonna eat my soul? I’m still so young please I’m not ready to die.” he says, crossing his fingers together in an attempt to ward off the stranger.

 

He stands up and comes closer to Mingyu. “What the hell are you talking abo-”

 

“I know I cheated on that one test but I swear, I wasn’t planning on doing it again, please don’t take my soul.” Mingyu begs, backing away further from him.

 

The person, or demon, or whatever he was, looks at him curiously, confused at the display going on before him. Mingyu observes him carefully.

 

The stranger’s features were striking, offhandedly reminding Mingyu of a cat; he had a long thin nose, high cheekbones and sharp eyes, sharper than even Minghao’s and bespectacled with round wire-thin frames. Mingyu’s eyes drop to observe him fully. He had a tall and slender frame, highlighted by a slouchy sweater with long sleeves that he bunched up on his hands as sweater paws.

 

He didn’t _look_ like a demon, that was for sure; quite handsome, in fact. A tiny part of Mingyu feels embarrassed when he realizes the thought.

 

“I’m not a demon.” the stranger says calmly but with a confused tone. His face was pulled stoically, not betraying any sign of fear or vulnerability to an intruder.

 

Mingyu eyes him cautiously. So maybe he _didn’t_ have any supernatural looking features on him, but Mingyu was still wary.

 

“You aren’t? Then what are you? Who are you?”

 

“I’m a person. Not so sure why you would think otherwise, but I have human parents and a birth certificate to prove it…” he says, crossing his arms together.

 

“Besides,” the stranger pauses and looks at him. “I think I should be asking you that? You’re the one who suddenly manifested in my room. Are you sure _you’re_ not the demon here?” he says. That strikes him and suddenly, Mingyu comes to his senses and looks around him.

 

The surroundings looked a different from when he entered the room. For one, there was suddenly furniture around which seemed to pop out of nowhere, just like the stranger did. There was a bed in the middle of the room, two tables beside it. There were suddenly curtains on the windows, a cushion on the window seat and a soft carpet that lined the floor.

 

The floor. He sees his walkie talkie on the ground and grabs at it, trying to contact Minghao. He turns the dial and, unfortunately, is met with nothing but static.

 

_In times of crisis, it’s best not to panic,_ he remembers Jihoon hyung telling him once when he got himself stuck in a sweater that was apparently too tight for him. He tries to calm down and looking at the situation from the best possible angle.

 

The stranger clears his throat behind him and speaks calmly once again, “My name is Wonwoo. Jeon Wonwoo.” His tone was polite and his eyes looked like they held a lot of concern.

 

Remembering himself, he blushes and immediately straightens up, bowing to the stranger–or, well, Wonwoo apparently. Faced with Satan or not, his mother didn’t raise a heathen.

 

“Hello Wonwoo-ssi, I’m Kim Mingyu. Um, sorry to intrude on you. This was your room, you said?”

 

“Yeah. My room in my house in my neighborhood.” Wonwoo nods in affirmation. He cocks his head in curiosity, reminding Mingyu of an owl. “Right now, what I really want to know is how you literally just popped out of nowhere in it though.”

 

Mingyu frowns in confusion, “I was going to ask you the same question just now, actually. I really don’t know how I got here in the first place.”

 

Wonwoo raises an eyebrow in suspicion. “You’re not here to rob me, are you?”

 

“No, what? Of course not, I don’t even know you.”

 

Wonwoo hums thoughtfully. It was absolutely sketchy how a stranger turns up in the middle of his room out of nowhere, but presumably judging from Mingyu’s earlier reaction, he could tell that his confusion was genuine.

 

“Do you remember anything at all? Anything in particular that might explain this?” he asks.

 

Mingyu thinks back, remembering the entrancing sensations he felt beforehand. “Well, I got dizzy for a moment and closed my eyes. When I opened them, everything suddenly looked a lot different? And the next thing I knew, I was here.” He then relays the heavy feeling of energy in the previous rooms to Wonwoo.

 

“Oh and, I’m pretty sure my friend told me this house was empty?” Mingyu recalls what Minghao told them the past few days when he was pitching the idea to their group. In fact, where _was_ Minghao?

 

“Actually would you lead me downstairs? I think he’s down there trying to spook me or something…” he adds as an afterthought.

 

Wonwoo frowns at that, “We’ve been living here for as long as I can remember. Maybe your friend made a mistake” he says, getting up to open the door for the both of them. They go down the hallway to make their way downstairs, and Mingyu notices how different the house was, owing to the furniture decorating the previously empty building. He notes that it did look like the house he entered with Minghao, only this time, it bore signs of residency.

They reach the spot where Minghao supposedly was before, but Mingyu found no sign of his friend anywhere. Wonwoo eyes him expectantly, curious as to what his next move should be.

 

“H-he isn’t here. And I can’t reach him through my walkie talkie either.”

 

“Try calling him on your phone?” Wonwoo suggests. Mingyu reaches for it in his pocket and turns it on. The device powers up, however the tiny upper left corner tells him that there’s currently no service where he is.

 

“There’s no coverage here, the call isn’t going to go through.” He looks at Wonwoo, who seems like he’s having an internal debate in his head as to whether he should kick Mingyu out or let him stay and help.

 

In the end, to Mingyu’s relief, he doesn’t kick him out after all. “Well, I guess you’re welcome to stay here while you’re trying to contact whomever?” he says hesitantly.

“Um thanks. Uh, by the way where exactly am I?” Mingyu scratches his head, trying to process everything that was going on. He figures that dizzy spell earlier must have taken a huge toll on him mentally.

 

“What kind of question is that? This is Korea of course. South. We’re in Seoul, just to clear that up for you. Where’d you come from anyway?”

 

“My friends and I came to this place because we wanted to see what happens when you wake up a ley line. So going from that, I don’t think I’m in the same place I was in? Spiritually or something like that?” He figured that it probably lined up with Minghao’s experimenting, and all of it sounded so crazy, but part of Mingyu thought it was true. Crazy seemed like the only explanation for what was going on anyways. He suddenly wished Minghao were with him so that at least _something_ would make sense.

 

He wouldn’t be surprised if Wonwoo just kicked him out right then and there. What he didn’t expect was for Wonwoo to shrug it off so lightly, as if he didn’t just imply that he wasn’t from the same dimensional plane.

 

“Ah. So that explains why you called me a demon then?” he simply says.

 

Mingyu reddens, embarrassed at his earlier overreaction. “Sorry about that, I was really disoriented.”

 

They end up going back to Wonwoo’s room and on the way, he tries to remember everything Minghao told him and Seok about this little quest they were doing. Minghao had mentioned countless of times that it had nothing to do with the paranormal and more to do with natural phenomena. He also vaguely remembers Minghao telling them that ley lines were alignments; secret grids on the earth that were more spiritual in nature. Having Minghao charge them probably brought him on another dimensional plane, one different from his own.

 

“What we’re dealing with here, I think it might have to do with parallel universes. Or dimensions?” he explains.

 

“How exactly does that work?” Wonwoo says, curious but not over-eager. He was taking all of this with a grain of salt, Mingyu thought. Not that he blamed him for it, he’d be wary too if he’d found a stranger materializing out of nowhere in his house.

 

“Your house, this place, stands on top of a ley line. My friend- he charged them just now, and I think that woke them up with enough energy to converge worlds. Or transport me to yours.”

 

Mingyu sits down once again on the carpeted floor, fiddling with his walkie talkie to pass the time. He didn’t know when he’d get back, didn’t know if he’d _ever_ get back, for that matter.

 

Wonwoo sits on his bed, directly opposite from Mingyu, staring at him as if to gauge his honesty. Mingyu feels the weight of his stare and returns it evenly, unsure what to do next.

 

“Hey. How do you make an octopus laugh?” Wonwoo says out of nowhere, still staring at him.

 

Random question but Mingyu bites, “I’m not sure? How?”

 

“Ten tickles.” Wonwoo replies. A silence passes between them because Mingyu wanted to take a moment to process his terrible joke. He snorts loudly and hides his giggles behind his hand, not knowing if he should be embarrassed of how amusing he found it. Wonwoo cracks the smallest of smiles at his reaction.

 

“Nice icebreaker.” he compliments, still chuckling.

 

“Nah. The real icebreaker was you yelling at me, thinking I was going to reap your soul.” Wonwoo teases, face pulled stoically once again, as if he hadn’t just told a lame uncle joke.

 

“Stop, it was really scary okay. I’ve lived a hard life,” Mingyu says melodramatically in protest, and Wonwoo snickers quietly, mouth curling up into an amused smirk. Despite looking like a quiet and reserved person, Wonwoo made it surprisingly comfortable to be around. Mingyu found that kind of endearing in a way.

 

 

“Alright, Kim Mingyu, while you’re stuck here in this dimension or whatever, let’s pass the time getting to know each other. How old are you?”

 

“I was born in 1997.” he answers.

 

Wonwoo hums, “So I’m hyung then. 96 liner.”

 

“Alright. Wonwoo hyung.”

 

“Ya, are we close? I didn’t say you could _call me_ hyung.” he says, side-eyeing Mingyu judgmentally.

 

Mingyu however, used to this brand of taunting from Minghao and Jihoon, is unphased by this. “Then what did you just say, _hyung_?” he retorts.

 

“I– nevermind, I won’t even bother.” Wonwoo stutters and his face betrays no emotion but his reddening ears hint otherwise. He goes back to the window seat and picks up the book that he abandoned earlier and places it on his bedside table.

 

Wonwoo assumes his original position on the bed, pulling his legs up to his chest and facing Mingyu once again.

 

“So, how exactly do you plan on getting out of here? Do you want to go to the police or?..”

 

Mingyu considers this. It was the most practical thing to do after all. The thing is he wasn’t so sure if the police were going to believe him with claims of coming from another dimension. You couldn’t exactly file a police report for that, especially with no proper identification. Also the leyline that Minghao charged was here, and he didn’t want to take his chances missing the next opportunity to go back.

 

“I think maybe it’s best for me to stay here first? If that’s okay with you, hyung?” he asks timidly and Wonwoo nods to assure him that it was fine.

 

He ends up giving Mingyu the wifi password and the younger tries hooking his phone up, thinking he could contact his friends on their chatroom. This, however, comes to no avail because Wonwoo tells him KakaoTalk doesn’t exist in his dimension and the satellites would probably bounce his messages back to him.

 

So while waiting for _something_ to happen, Wonwoo shows him how to use his tablet. The technology in this dimension was quite different to what Mingyu was used to in his own. It reminded Mingyu of the technology he’d see in Marvel movies; more advanced, but in a convenient way, not a supercapitalist way. Somehow, somewhere in the other dimension, Steve Jobs was rolling in his grave, Mingyu thought.

 

He uses it to do more research on parallel dimensions and other supernatural phenomena that occur around ley lines. He thanks whichever higher power was out there that Google™ was a multidimensional Thing. Meanwhile, Wonwoo busies himself with a gadget that Mingyu wasn’t familiar with; a clear crystal-faced pad, similar to a tablet, that came with a stylus. He was using it to jot down a few things, the way one might while using a notebook. 

 

After a while, Wonwoo speaks up, breaking the long silence and jarring Mingyu from his concentration on the research. “Tell me something.” he says, albeit still focused on his pad.

 

“Like what?”

 

Wonwoo looks at him and shrugs. “Anything. Like uh, who exactly is this friend of yours and how did he manage to open up an entire dimension?”

 

“Ah our Myungho. My best friend since middle school. His real name is Xu Minghao. These days he’s been reading a lot of books and watching documentaries about the paranormal. When I left him downstairs earlier he was dealing with stuff like chalk? And dowsing rods, I think? Also this really sketchy looking book in Mandarin–”

 

“Hold on, are you talking about Xu Minghao as in that famous young designer from China?” Wonwoo asks out of nowhere, and Mingyu frowns in confusion.

 

“No, just Minghao. As in our dorky classmate.” he pulls out his phone and shows Wonwoo a selca of him and Minghao, taken on the last day of middle school.

 

“Wait. That Xu Minghao, he exists here too. He’s with that movie star Wen Junhui, both of them are really popular in China. Does he exist in your world too?” Wonwoo finds a magazine on his desk and flips through it, looking for something.

 

“Wait, you mean Jun hyung?” Mingyu asks in shock. In his own dimension, Junhui and Minghao couldn’t stand each other. Or rather Minghao couldn’t stand Junhui, their personalities clashing too much over the littlest of things. It’s not like they hated each other, but Junhui was off probably found doing or saying things that just really annoyed Minghao to no end. Sure, they were in the same (hugeass) friend group, but that’s basically where the similarities stopped.

 

Wonwoo finds the page he was looking for and shows Mingyu. The spread was an article about the red carpet event in a movie premier in Beijing, and pictures showed two young men in expensive looking designer suits, smiling for the cameras. A closer look showed that they did in fact resemble Minghao and Junhui, and a gut feeling in Mingyu was telling him that they _were_ Minghao and Junhui, just maybe other versions of them in this world.

 

It wasn’t too unbelievable that there would be multiple versions of people in parallel universes; he’d seen sci-fi movies after all. It was just pleasantly surprising to find that some people were universal constants. And his best friend was one of those people.

 

 

He snaps a picture of the article, planning to give Minghao the shock of his life later on when he got back. _If_ he ever got back, that is.

 

Suddenly, he’s curious as to whether or not he exists in this dimension as well. He asks Wonwoo to look him up on social media, wanting to know how different he’d be from himself in this particular dimension. They try all different types of platforms, but Mingyu’s name doesn’t pop up in any of them. They try looking at an old phonebook as well for his family register, but it was nowhere to be found.

 

Mingyu looks down in disappointment, and Wonwoo immediately senses his shift in mood.

 

“Hey,” he nudges him silently. Wonwoo offers him a kind smile. “I guess that just means you’re one of a kind doesn’t it?”

 

That lifts his spirits up a little, knowing there was probably only one (1) Kim Mingyu in the seen and unseen universe. The smile on his face returns and he sees the corners of Wonwoo’s lips turn upwards in the slightest too.

 

A thought comes to him immediately. “Hey, if I look you up in my dimension and don’t find you, I suppose that’d make you Wonuf-a kind too.” Mingyu finishes with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

 

Wonwoo clocks him with a pillow for that.

 

* * *

 

It happens just right after the last trace of sunlight disappears from the room.

 

When it happens, it happens too soon, and everything disappears just as quickly as it had appeared in front of him, but he notes that this time, the dizzy spell wasn’t present to disorient him further. The transition seemed like a quick fadeout kind of thing, and he caught a glimpse of Wonwoo looking at him one last time just before he found himself back in the room where he used to be.  

 

He glances around him, noting that everything was back to normal, however the orange light of dusk was gone, replaced with the bluish light that comes just right after the sun had set.

 

He turns on his flashlight and makes his way down the stairs, back to where he left Minghao. To his relief, he finds his best friend seated on the floor just as he’d left him, packing his materials inside his bag. He runs over to him and pulls him up on his feet, hugging him.

 

“Myungho. My friend. My beloved friend whom I love and cherish. You’re here. Thank god. I thought I’d never see you again.” he says, squeezing Minghao tightly, crushing his best friend’s smaller frame. He fusses over him, checking if he’s okay or if he got affected by the ritual paranormal shit he was trying to perform.

Minghao pulls away with a sour look on his face, disliking the fussing. “Stop, you are _such_ a pissbaby. A bigger pissbaby than Seokminnie. The king of pissbabi-”

 

“I saw someone. On the second floor, while you were down here.” Mingyu cuts him off urgently.

 

Minghao looks genuinely surprised, “You did?” he asks and Mingyu nods. “Why didn’t you use the walkie talkie? I told you to call me if anything strange happened.”

 

“I tried! It was busted, I couldn’t reach you through the static. My phone wasn’t working either.”

 

“Ah, that explains it. I was wondering why you were so quiet.” Minghao snickers. “Anyway, what’s this about a person on the second floor? What exactly did you see?”

 

“His name was Wonwoo hyung. When I was on the second floor everything was kinda weird for a while, and I called you about that right? But you said it was natural so I thought, okay nothing odd there but then I got super dizzy and closed my eyes for a second and then suddenly Wonwoo hyung called me and everything was super confusing for a while and apparently you were famous there but yeah bottomline is,” he pauses, catching his breath, and Minghao blinks trying to keep up.

 

“I think your leyline created an entrance to a parallel universe. And that’s where I ended up for the past two hours or so.” he finishes and Minghao’s eyes widen comically.

 

Actually, wait.

 

“How long was I gone?” Mingyu asks, confused as to why Minghao wasn’t freaked out by his disappearance. Not that his head was that big or anything, but it was kinda strange how _un_ panicked Minghao was when he found him again.

 

Minghao frowns distractedly at him. “What do you mean? It’s only been 15 minutes.”

 

“Really?” he checked his own phone, and sure enough, roughly 15 minutes had passed by. “I’m sure it had been two hours. I looked at the clock and stuff.”

 

“Maybe time passes differently there. Relative to their own world’s rotation, semantics and whatnot.” Minghao reasons, and strangely, Mingyu found that it made sense.

 

“A parallel universe,” Minghao says with a delighted exhale. “So _that’s_ what it does.” Mingyu sees a sparkle of excitement in his eyes and kind of feels guilty that he had been the one who experienced it instead of Minghao. He’d been hyped about this for days and didn’t even get to be the first to discover it. Minghao, however didn’t look disappointed, quite the opposite actually. He was delighted to know about the other dimension, prying information from Mingyu left and right.

 

Something occurs to Mingyu then, and he voices this thought out to Minghao, “Why weren’t you there? Both of us were on the leyline right? Even Seok was technically on it.”

 

“The line we woke up probably only had enough energy to carry one person over. And it wasn’t me because I was the one charging it; I was the tether, if you will.”

 

Mingyu nods in understanding. Minghao seemed to know everything they were dealing with, so he figured he’d find out more from him eventually.

 

They reach the front door once again, greeted by a relieved Seokmin. They tell him everything that happened,  Mingyu describing the other dimension in detail, but Seokmin completely misses the point, choosing to fixate on the fact that there weren’t any ghosts after all, thank _god._

 

_“_..and it’s a good thing both of you came out of this unharmed or I don’t even know what I would have done.” he scolds as the trio make their way back to the railway station. Minghao hooks his arm around him and ruffles his hair.

 

“If anything happened to us, you could have just screamed at the ghosts, demanding that they gave us back.” he teases playfully.

 

Seokmin scoffs in offense, “And trade my beautiful voice for your lives? I’d rather just leave to call an exorcist. Or Jihoon hyung. Same difference.” he finishes, sounding a bit too much like Seungkwan for his own good.

 

On the train home, Mingyu unlocks his phone to the picture he took of Wonwoo’s magazine. Minghao takes one look at the picture and his jaw drops, mouth forming an ‘O’. “Is that _me_?” he exclaims a bit too loudly, forgetting his inside voice and earning sour looks from the other passengers in the train. He bows in apology and turns back to the picture. Beside him, Seokmin leans in as well to get a look.

 

“Is that me and Jun-ge?” he takes the phone from Mingyu’s hands and zooms in, trying to get a closer look.

 

Mingyu looks at him knowingly. “Weird right? Who knew it had to take another dimension for you two to get along?”

 

Minghao waves a hand in dismissal, “Okay but wait, more importantly. Me from the other dimension looks really good.” he says raising his chin in pride and straightening up in his seat.

 

“I think I’d seriously date me.”

 

And if he ever thought that was an exact comment that Junhui would give, Mingyu decides to keep it to himself.

 

* * *

 

At the end of the day, it all still felt like a dream to Mingyu. He couldn’t seem to grasp the surrealism of it all. He goes to bed that night with flashes of everything that happened in the afternoon seemingly on replay under his eyelids.

 

The next day, Minghao tells him that he plans on visiting the site once again that same afternoon to see if the lines were still active. Mingyu asks if he could tag along, but Minghao kindly denies him, telling him that he wanted to do it alone this time. He figures it was best to let Minghao do his thing, after all he was better versed in all of it. But for some reason, he felt a bit disappointed that he couldn’t go see Wonwoo again. And more importantly, miss the shock on his face when Minghao materializes in his room, he realizes. He makes a mental note to ask about his reaction when supposedly super famous fashion designer Xu Minghao pops up in his room. A smile on his face appears at the thought.

 

By the time the weekend rolls around, Mingyu finds himself on Seokmin’s bedroom floor hugging a pillow to his chest, thinking about that day. Minghao is lying down on the bed reading up on more stuff about the lines, while Seokmin is on his desk using his laptop.

 

Over the course of the week, Mingyu catches himself wondering if that was the last time he’d see Wonwoo. He almost hopes that wasn’t the case, but then again it wasn’t like they were important to each other, right? He couldn’t help but feel like he’d want to get to know the other boy better, though. Also he regrets that the way he went back the other day was kind of abrupt, and he didn’t even get to wave goodbye or thank Wonwoo for his hospitality.

 

He’d tried going again the day after Minghao went alone, arriving much earlier at noon this time, and waited for something to happen. To his disappointment however, nothing did for over two hours. Having given up, he just heads home, stopping by a coffee shop for a fixer-upper on the way.

 

Lost in his own thoughts, he barely registers Minghao’s voice until a hand is waved in front of his face, and Mingyu snaps out of his reverie. “Where is your mind right now? I was asking you where you wanted to eat...”

 

“Nothing–I mean, nowhere. I mean, what?” he says, a bit distracted and trying to hide that he wasn’t listening before.

 

Minghao levels him an unimpressed stare. “Gyu, what’s going on? You’ve been quite distracted lately...just tell me, what’s up?” he says and Seokmin turns around in his swivel chair to look at the both of them curiously.

 

He sighs, figuring that if there was anyone who would understand this whole thing best, it would be Minghao. “I went to Wonwoo’s the other day, but nothing happened.”

 

“What for?”

 

Mingyu shrugs. “Nothing, I just wanted to visit him. Say hello again.” Seokmin gives him a look which he can’t interpret, so he chooses to ignore him.

 

Minghao, on the other hand, frowns in confusion, “What time did you go?”

 

“Early noon.” he answers.

 

“The lines don’t wake up till twilight. That’s the time of the day which has the most spiritual properties. Dusk and Dawn. Haven’t you seen ‘Your Name’?”

 

“That was real?”

 

Minghao shakes his head, “Not everything in the movie was, but they were spot on in some parts. Anyway, point is, nothing’s going to happen if you go before or after dusk or dawn.”

 

That made sense, Mingyu thinks, remembering how they’d rushed to the site that first day to catch the last minutes of sunlight before the sun set.

 

He’d make sure to catch the right timing next time, he promised himself. Minghao finally changes the subject again, asking about food, and he puts all thoughts of the ley line at the back of his head for now.

 

 

Days later, he goes again for perhaps the last time, in case nothing happened anymore. Mingyu walks over to the window and closes his eyes, hoping for that shifting feeling to come once again, just like that first day.

 

It never comes, but right then, when he opens his eyes, he finally finds himself now standing in Wonwoo’s room. He looks toward the window seat, expecting to see Wonwoo reading by the light, but sees no one there.

 

“Kim Mingyu. You’re here again.” comes a familiar voice from behind him. He turns around towards it.

 

“Will I have to get used to you appearing like that?” Wonwoo greets teasingly from his desk adjacent to Mingyu’s window.

 

Mingyu grins widely at the sight of him. 

 

“Maybe.”

 


	2. ii. summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another chapter of my life began when i met you...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, here's an update! 
> 
> p.s. uni started for me a while back so i couldn't get this up as soon as i wanted to, but dw i'm trying to work on this and my other wip as much as i can :)
> 
> p.p.s. comments and kudos keep me alive ❤

**ii. summer** **  
** **_and if i see you every tuesday_ **

 

Mingyu decides that he truly did like Wonwoo’s company after all. Sooner rather than later, it becomes routine for them. Every other day, near dusk, Mingyu would come to Wonwoo’s house, hoping the timing wasn’t skewed when the lines woke up. They form something close to a friendship, as close as it gets when two people are from separate dimensions. It was a bit regretful that they couldn’t come into contact that often, but they’ll take all that they could get.

 

“Wouldn’t that cost a lot? You coming here every other day?” Wonwoo asks, reclining far back on his window seat, legs crossed upward on the wall to accommodate more space for himself. Battery-operated fan in hand, he lets it cool over himself along with the breeze that comes in from the open window.  
  
Summer came in gradually, the soft dew of spring turning into a sharp vapor of sunlight and humidity. Crickets came out near dusk while the energy lines crackled between dimensions.  
  
Mingyu, seated on the floor across from his window seat, shrugs nonchalantly, “I live nearer around the area, so it costs less to go from my house than from school. Plus I got a job part-time, are you proud of me?” he grins widely, sharp little canines on display.

  
Wonwoo nods, closing his eyes sarcastically, "You're being useful to society for once. Good job."  
  
Mingyu picks up the throw pillow he was resting on and hurls it at Wonwoo. Much to his disappointment however, Wonwoo just catches the pillow midair and hugs it to himself.  
  
"You just lost your pillow. Thanks for this, by the way." he says, closing his eyes again, ignoring the sounds of Mingyu whining desperately for the pillow back.

 

His visits were filled with easy, mindless conversations–not without banter–about both of their realities. Sometimes it surprises Mingyu how much Wonwoo actually takes in when he tends to ramble about his day or ends up telling him a story. Most of the time when he does, Wonwoo would just be browsing on his tablet or sketching, looking bored and almost like he wasn't listening. But then afterwards, he'd ask questions too, insightful ones that really make Mingyu think on a deeper level.

 

Other times, however, were just filled with general headassery. Sometimes Mingyu does stuff particularly for the sole purpose of annoying Wonwoo. It wouldn’t take much since Wonwoo seemed already perpetually annoyed by his presence alone. Or at least, he pretends like he is, Mingyu thinks.

 

He was in the middle of editing a picture of Seungkwan once, positioning himself with his tablet in Wonwoo’s line of sight so that it was easier for him to catch onto Mingyu’s bullshit.

 

From his window seat, Wonwoo leans down over his shoulder to look at what he was working on on the screen, "Is that–? Did you just use the golden ratio on your friend's ass."  
  
"Yeah and damn look how perfect it is? No bromo here but Seungkwanie's ass is like, god tier or something." he replies, adjusting the proportions on the screen to fit better.

  
Wonwoo looks at him incredulously. "The fibonacci spiral is sacred science. It's a constant geometric succession that occurs in nature, even apparently transcending entire dimensions, mind you, and believed to hold secrets to the pattern of life."  
  
"Yeah, and it just proved that my dongsaeng’s butt is a work of art, how great is that?" he snickers.

 

Wonwoo just looks at him blankly and ignores him for the rest of the afternoon. The next time he spoke was only to call out a “bye, dipshit” when it was time to go.

 

He learns that there were only minor discrepancies between his and Wonwoo's dimensions. However, an extremely unfortunate one was the absence of Studio Ghibli movies in Wonwoo’s dimension. To say that Mingyu was scandalized was a bit of an understatement. He takes pity and decides to bring his laptop over a few times to watch the entire Studio Ghibli collection.

 

(“Flash drives exist here too, you know. You don't have to carry that around the whole time," Wonwoo snickers the fifth time he lugs his bulky laptop bag around.)

 

A few times, he prepares food in the form of light dosirak lunchboxes, for the both of them to enjoy over a movie. He takes the time to shape the rice and make them look like cute cartoon characters, and one time Wonwoo calls him out for being so extra about it.

 

(“Ya, you really spent time on this didn’t you? What am I, your girlfriend?” he teases lightly, but proceeds to enjoy the food anyway, missing the blush on Mingyu’s face altogether.)

 

Wonwoo ends up liking _The Tale of Princess Kaguya_ the most, and Mingyu does a mental fistpump for guessing his Ghibli taste right. In hindsight, he found that it made a lot of sense, based on how Mingyu understood his personality. He seemed like the kind of person who enjoyed old folktales and a more traditional art style in animation. Just like how he liked reading required text for fun or naming his succulents after Shakespearean characters.

 

All of it was distinctly _Wonwoo_ , and Mingyu was grateful that he was comfortable enough to show those parts of himself to him, despite seeming like a reserved person at first.

 

In return, he shares parts of himself with Wonwoo as well. It doesn’t take that much effort for Mingyu, because he’s pretty much an open book when it comes to his friends. In hindsight, Wonwoo must know pretty much everything when it came to Mingyu by now, considering how much he shared stories about friends and school and work.

 

Which is why he allows himself to open up a bit more and tell him his secrets as well. There was something oddly comforting about letting someone from another dimension in on your secrets, Mingyu found. It almost felt like a shout to the void, except that same void was sentient and also your friend.

 

He tells him things only Minghao and Seokmin would know, like his dreams of working in the field of Arts and Designs in the future, how he wished he could pursue that, instead of a Economics course in University.

 

A few times, he draws various things like little characters for Wonwoo on random sticky notes. Wonwoo, being Wonwoo, would tell him that it’s bothersome and that he throws them away when Mingyu goes home, but he knew Wonwoo secretly liked keeping them in places where he thought Mingyu wouldn’t find.

 

He doesn’t say anything about it, figuring that Wonwoo was probably just embarrassed about admitting to liking them. Instead, he just keeps drawing for him, figuring it was great practice as well, to improve his designs.

 

While working on another post-it doodle, Mingyu’s phone lights up with a reminder notification, and he puts the thing on snooze, throwing it back on the bed. The screen doesn’t immediately turn black, displaying his lockscreen openly.

 

"Is that your dog?" Wonwoo’s eyes widen and he gestures to Mingyu's lockscreen. It was a picture of him and a small white toy poodle taken in the dog cafe that he was part-timing in. Mingyu smiles at the picture fondly.  
  
"Yeah, he practically is. But technically, he's the cafe's. We almost adopted him once, but couldn't take him home because apparently my dad is allergic to dogs."  
  
"What's his name?" Wonwoo asks.  
  
"Bongbongie. But everyone in the cafe calls him Kim Bongbongie because he's the closest to me." He shows him pictures that he took of Bongbongie every time he was bored at work, like a proud parent showing off their child at a gathering.

 

Wonwoo himself, however, seemed to be afraid of dogs since he was bitten by one as a child and got traumatized. Mingyu feels sympathy for him and wishes he could make him see that they weren’t as scary as he thought they were.

 

So from that day on, he takes it upon himself to change that fear in Wonwoo, showing him different pictures of himself and his co-workers playing with Bongbongie. Sometimes Mingyu accessorized him with a little headband that had a felt cut-out of a diamond on it.

 

He takes a video of the puppy once after his shift. Mingyu asks him to greet Wonwoo through the camera, and the screen is immediately ambushed by a little black nose, sniffing it curiously. Bongbongie barks cheerfully at the camera, wagging his tail back and forth happily.

 

“He wants to meet you, hyung,” Mingyu says when he shows Wonwoo the video. Wonwoo seems to remain stoic while watching it, but afterwards, from the corner of his eye, he sees him crack the smallest smile.

 

On the screen, Bongbongie does a funny little trick and rolls over, and Wonwoo bursts out laughing brightly.

 

Something warm blooms in Mingyu’s chest at the sight, but he doesn’t say anything and keeps it to himself, wanting to preserve the moment.

 

He soon makes it a deal to stock up on pictures and videos of Bongbongie after work to show Wonwoo whenever he came over.

 

 

For Wonwoo’s birthday, Mingyu bakes him a chocolate cupcake to celebrate. He also gives him an old map of constellations that he had found at the antiques store along the way to work. It wasn’t much, he thought, but lately Wonwoo was a bit interested in Astronomy, so he’d thought it would be an appropriate present for the time.

 

He watches intently as Wonwoo unscrolls the map, and smiles sincerely when he looks up and meets his eyes. A look of deep gratitude and appreciation had graced Wonwoo’s features. He looks at Mingyu with fond eyes, and returns his smile shyly.

 

“Thank you, Mingyu-ya. For this, for everything.” he says softly, running a fingertip through the map gingerly.

 

“Happy birthday, hyung.” Mingyu says, extremely pleased that he liked his present. He’s surprised when all of a sudden, Wonwoo completely moves in for a too-tight hug. He knew that Wonwoo wasn’t the most tactile person, and he guessed that it showed through how uncomfortably tight his embrace was. It was confusing yet oddly sweet at the same time.

 

He reciprocates by placing his arms on Wonwoo’s back, but Wonwoo takes this as a cue to tighten the embrace.

 

“Hyung, you’re crushing my ribs.” Mingyu chokes, a bit out of breath.

 

“Am I? Good.” Wonwoo says, squeezing him tighter. Mingyu quite literally gasps for air until Wonwoo releases him two seconds later.

 

Mingyu catches his breath and moves away, laughing nervously when it looked like Wonwoo was going to go in for another hug.

 

If his heartbeat felt any faster, then it was probably just from the lack of oxygen that Wonwoo squeezed out of him that day.

 

* * *

 

“I’ll take my leave first!” Mingyu calls to Jeongguk from the counter and takes off his apron for the day. The dog cafe had been slow on business that afternoon, which gave him extra time to play with Bongbongie. Jeongguk also happened to arrive earlier for his shift, which meant he could turn the place over to him for the day.

 

“Got plans later, Gyu? You look pretty excited.” Jeongguk asks him while taking up an apron from a hook on the wall.

 

“Yeah, seeing someone later,” he grins, mostly to himself, at the thought. Jeongguk catches it though, and smirks.

 

“Who’s the lucky guy? Or girl?” Jeongguk asks while nudging him teasingly.

 

He stammers, flustered at even the slightest implication of him and Wonwoo being a _thing._ He was being ridiculous, he knew; Jeongguk was just kidding after all. However, some part of him couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy at the thought.

 

“He’s just a friend, Guk.” he mumbles shyly while stuffing his things in his bag.

 

Jeongguk raises a skeptical brow. “Really.”

 

“Yeah.”

“So you blushing while telling me this has nothing to do with it.”

 

Mingyu’s hands fly self-consciously to his face, and sure enough, he feels his cheeks heated up. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately when it came to the topic of Wonwoo. Jeongguk just smirks at him wider, making finger guns.

 

He quickly takes his hands off his face, pretending to fuss with his collar instead. “Anyway, I have to go. See you tomorrow, Guk.” he says, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. He walks to the door with Bongbongie in tow.

 

Before leaving, he crouches down to pet Bongbongie and bids him goodbye for the day, kissing the top of his head. Bongbongie whines at him and cuddles up in between his feet, looking up sadly.

 

Mingyu’s heart nearly melts at the sight.

 

“Nooo, don’t cry kid, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says pouting and reaching down to pet him again. He cups Bongbongie’s face and boops him on the nose.

 

“You guys are so dramatic, you do this everyday.” Jeongguk calls out from the counter, watching them amusedly with his chin resting on his hand. He says goodbye for real this time and goes out the door, waving at Jeongguk and Bongbongie from the window of the cafe.

 

He makes his way to the train station, excited to show Wonwoo the pictures he took of Bongbongie that afternoon.

  


He finds out that for the summer, Wonwoo had an online job as an editor for amateur novels that were eventually about to go on print. The job paid well, didn't require him to go anywhere too far, and allowed him to read books for free, which was pretty much the dream source of income, as far as Wonwoo was concerned.  
  
On a particular boring day, Wonwoo gets caught up in his work, reading a novel for his upcoming deadline the following week. Out of respect for his time, Mingyu stays quiet that day and doesn't initiate any conversation or ask him to watch a movie together. He does, however, grow bored after 30 minutes on the tablet, so he puts it away and plants himself below Wonwoo's bed.  
  
He folds his elbows in front of him and rests his chin on the mattress. At this point, there was nothing to do except watch Wonwoo work. It was all a relatively quiet scene, save for the soft clicking of his stylus meeting the pad.  
  
A concentrated Wonwoo was a force to be reckoned with, he learns. Mingyu watches how focused he was, in excellent composure and with sharp eyes scanning for errors and taking note right away. A hand pushes up the round specs sliding down the slope of his nose. Wonwoo brings it down to rest on the space of the bed beside him.

  
Mingyu's eyes follow the curve of his shoulders down to the line of his arms and stopping at his wrist, thin and bony, and free of the characteristic sweater paws that were ever present in the spring.  
  
Before he knew what he was doing, he's reaching out to trace the veins on Wonwoo's hand. He catches himself and freezes, waiting for Wonwoo to tense up and retract his hand or scold him for being bothersome. Wonwoo, however keeps his eyes on the pad, not seeming to mind.  
  
So he continues skating his fingers across protruding veins and smooth knuckles, eyes falling heavy with every swirl of the pattern he was making. He pillows his head on his arms and drifts off with his hand still warm over Wonwoo's.  
  
Had Mingyu not fallen asleep at that moment, he would have sensed Wonwoo putting his stylus down, having stopped working completely.  
  
Had Mingyu not fallen asleep, he would have seen the soft smile decorating Wonwoo's face at the peaceful sight of him.

  
Later on, Mingyu wakes up just in time to see the bed fading as he was returning to his own reality for the day. He yawns, waving goodbye to Wonwoo and stretches to get the blood flowing back in his veins.  
  
He feels something on his forehead and removes it to find a yellow sticky note previously stuck on it. He turns it over to read the message:

             _loudly_

 _You snore when you sleep - ₩onu_ _  
_ (¬_¬)       ^

 

* * *

 

Summer so far, was treating him pretty well, until Mingyu catches the flu from one of his co-workers, just days after his parents leave for out of town on a business trip. He curses his horrid luck and tries to go to the pharmacy to get some medicine, but as luck would have it, wasn’t feeling well enough to even leave the house.

  
Seokmin and Minghao, Best Friends Extraordinaire™, arrive only moments after he cancels on pizza night, telling them the reason why on the phone, despite all his warnings to stay away because it was probably contagious.  
  
All prepared in their makeshift hazmat suits and medical face masks, they help take care of him, feeding him Juk and taking turns to replace the damp cloth on his forehead. He passes out a couple of times, but every time he wakes up, he finds that they hadn’t left him, and were just hanging around in his room.

 

They help him onto the couch and Minghao connects the HDMI on the TV for their mandatory sickday bad rom-com marathon.  
  
In the middle of _Serendipity_ he feels the bile rise up in his throat and has to make a beeline for the bathroom.  
  
"Same," Minghao yells from the couch while Seokmin rushes after him, patting his back while he empties his guts out on the toilet. With Seokmin’s assistance, he manages to clean himself up, rinsing the horrible taste of acid from his mouth. They go back to his bedroom, and he goes back to bed, sitting up on the pillows Minghao propped up for him earlier on.

 

“Eat this,” Seokmin hands him a small biscuit, and he groans, too weak to even think about eating solid food. Seokmin however, isn’t having it and reminds him that he can’t take his medicine on an empty stomach.

 

“C’mon at least half, Gyu, please?” he pleads with a worried look plastered on his face.

 

Mingyu sighs and takes the biscuit, slowly nibbling on it and wincing with every swallow. He takes his medicine shortly after with Seokmin’s assistance, and lies down fully on the bed. He hears Minghao come in, checking up on him. He was on the phone with someone, probably Mingyu’s mother, reporting his condition diligently.

 

Seokmin presses the damp cloth on his forehead again, cool enough to be soothing, and Mingyu’s eyes suddenly feel a lot heavier.

  
The medicine kicks in after a moment. Drowsy and inebriated from the effects of the medication, he whines at no one in particular. Mingyu registers that he was talking, asking for something, or someone but his mind was far too incoherent for himself to realize what he was saying.

  
He blinks slowly, almost falling asleep. The last thing he sees is Minghao throwing Seokmin a knowing look that Mingyu's too tired to interpret.  
  
He falls asleep dreaming of late afternoon light, crickets chirping, and Wonwoo's smile.

  


The next time he gets to visit again, Wonwoo greets him the same and doesn’t bring up his absence until it was nearly time to leave.

 

“You weren’t here for a while,” Wonwoo says nonchalantly, not quite meeting his eyes.

 

"Sorry, I was sick for a week. I really wanted to visit you, but I didn't want you to catch it. But it was okay, Seok and Haohao kept me company at my house so I wasn't too lonely." he rambles.  
  
"Oh. Well, for the record, I didn't miss you. You weren't missed. At all." Wonwoo says a bit too quickly, eyes darting around the room. To anyone else, it wouldn’t count as odd behaviour, but Mingyu liked to think he knew Wonwoo well enough to know that he was probably embarrassed bringing it up.

  
"Really, hyung? You really didn't miss me?" Mingyu grins teasingly, enjoying the sight of a flustered Wonwoo.  
  
"No. I don't know why you would even think that." he replies, crossing his arms. At this point, his ears were turning red as well.  
  
"Hm. For a moment I thought that sounded like something someone who missed me might say." Mingyu pretends to look thoughtful while saying.  
  
"It's probably just all in your head." Wonwoo grumbles.  
  
"Okay, so maybe I'll just leave then-"  
  
"No, stay." Wonwoo interrupts, reaching out quickly and putting a hand on his arm to keep him from leaving. For a second, this throws Mingyu in for a shock, but he goes back to his cheeky smile in a matter of moments.  
  
"Hyung~” he singsongs happily, “did you forget that I can't physically leave until the sun sets in my world?"

Wonwoo doesn’t say anything, still holding onto his arm but frowning at the floor instead. Mingyu decides to tease him further. "You missed me! Admit it, Wonwoo hyung"  
  
"Shut up.” he lets go of Mingyu’s arms and crosses his own in front of his chest. Mingyu lays off with a knowing smile on his lips. He was content with leaving it at that.

 

“And don’t get sick again, dipshit.” Wonwoo adds, still looking away from him.

 

Nothing wipes the smile off his face for the rest of the day.

 

One afternoon, they were lying on their backs on each side of Wonwoo’s bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was one of their lazier afternoons, when neither of them had anything they wanted to do in particular. Wonwoo put on a soft acoustic playlist and the both of them would just listen to the songs, maybe close their eyes and talk about different things.

  
"If someone cloned me perfectly, and you met both me and my clone at the same time, how would you know which one was me?" Wonwoo asks distractedly, studying the stickers of half-finished constellations on his ceiling.

  
Mingyu opens his eyes to look at Wonwoo. "Easy,” he snickers, “I'd point a gun at both of you and then I'd shoot whomever professes their undying love for me first."

 

He laughs heartily at that. “Well said.”

 

Wonwoo scrunches his nose up whenever he finds something amusing. It was a habit Mingyu noticed within the first few weeks of his visits. He first noticed it when Wonwoo laughed at a particularly corny joke he told.

 

That little habit of his has always been there, so Mingyu doesn’t know why, doesn’t even remember when he started feeling just the slightest bit breathless every time he did it. He doesn’t remember when his chest started to tighten with fondness at every little thing or when his pulse started ringing faster in his ears at seeing his smile. It’s been happening a lot lately too, and he just wants to know what this _was_.

 

The thing is, Mingyu’s liked and dated other people a few times before, so he knew how similar this knees-weak-palms-sweaty-Jihoon hyung’s-spaghetti feeling was, and had a faint hunch that he knew exactly _what_ this was and where it was going. It was a nagging feeling that frequented his mind lately, but he always pushed it to the back of his thoughts, not wishing to acknowledge it any further.

 

Mingyu shakes himself out of his thoughts and realizes he was staring right at Wonwoo’s lips. He wanted to look away, focus on literally anything else, but Mingyu couldn’t help but study the way his cupid’s bow curved so nicely and how plush his bottom lip looked. For a brief moment, a thought flashed in his head, wondering how it would feel if he ran his thumb over them, but he mentally brushes it away as soon as it’s there.

 

Blushing and snapping out of it, he looks up, and finds Wonwoo gazing steadily at him, studying him intently. His skin prickles when their eyes meet, and there’s something unspoken that passes between them, a tension almost tangible hanging in the air.

 

He wonders if this was how ley lines felt when they were charged with energy. If they were sentient, would they tell him that it felt just as static, just as _magnetic_ as this moment?

 

He feels himself gravitate toward Wonwoo, closing the distance between them on the bed. Wonwoo puts a warm hand on his cheek, seeming to be moving closer as well. At some point, they’re so close that Mingyu gently knocks their foreheads together and they stay like that for a moment, just revelling in each other’s proximity.

 

It was nice and comfortable, and something about being so close to Wonwoo made Mingyu feel safe.

 

Mingyu doesn’t know who moved in first, but the next thing he knew, his lips were pressed to Wonwoo’s, still and almost barely brushing. Wonwoo tilts his head and kisses him properly, caressing Mingyu’s cheek with his thumb.

 

Mingyu runs a hand along Wonwoo’s arm, kissing him back sweetly and fervently, until they both run out of air.

 

Eventually, they pull away to catch their breaths, going back to that comfortable space for a moment, their minds just trying to catch up to the situation. Both of them are silent, each lost in their own thoughts, thinking about what to say or do next.

 

Mingyu looks at Wonwoo, trying to look for anything that betrayed out loud what he was feeling at that moment. It seemed that, for someone who was so eloquent when it came to words, he was suddenly at a loss for them. 

 

A few seconds pass and Mingyu’s just about to say something to fill the silence between them, when Wonwoo tears himself away abruptly.

 

He sits up on the bed, and after taking one long look at Mingyu, leaves the room, leaving Mingyu completely stunned as well. Wonwoo doesn’t come back, even when it was time to say goodbye for the day.

 

Mingyu eventually returns to his reality, confused and unsettled, and maybe just a little bit hurt. There was something left hanging between them, and he wasn’t sure just how to approach it. He figures that the kiss they’d shared just then was probably just an impulsive caught-in-the-moment situation, and that it surely meant nothing on Wonwoo’s part. He shakes it off for now, but the tingling feeling still lingers in small traces, even when he goes home for the day.

 

Wonwoo doesn’t bring it up the next time he visits, and neither does he.

 

* * *

 

"...And then, the other day, Wonwoo hyung told me this really funny story about—hey, Haohao, Seokminnie, are you guys even listening?"  
  
He looks over at Minghao and Seokmin snickering while hunched over something on Seokmin's lap. Mingyu saw that they had a stopwatch and a tally sheet ticked so many times that it almost filled the small paper.

 

“What are you doing?” he whines, not liking the feeling of being excluded from them knowing something that he doesn’t.

 

Seokmin looks up at him from the tally sheet, giggling mischievously, his bright eyesmile on display. "Mingyu-ya, did you know that in just four solid minutes you've managed to mention Wonwoo hyung about sixty-seven times?"  
  
Mingyu blushes, not even realizing he was talking about Wonwoo for so long. His best friends stare at him expectantly, like they’re waiting for him to tell them something, but he wasn’t sure _what_.

 

Minghao loses his patience a little bit and speaks up. “So are you gonna admit it, or...?”

 

That throws him off. "Wh-what are you saying? Admit _what_ exactly?" Mingyu asks, still confused about what his friends were getting at, though he had a feeling it was connected to Wonwoo somehow.

  
Minghao and Seokmin give each other those looks again, those irritatingly knowing looks that seemed to be so damn frequent these days, and Minghao just sighs in resignation.

 

"Seokminnie, you’re the one who’s the most experienced with this out of us all. Please just end our collective suffering and ask him when he’s going to do something about it.”

 

They both turn to Seokmin now, and he startles at the sudden attention for a moment, then brushes it off right away. As their little trio’s mediator, he was used to handling things when they got too heated on Minghao’s part, or too awkward on Mingyu’s.

 

Seokmin himself didn’t mind the effort it took for him to mediate, once saying that it only felt like training to him for when he eventually dealt with petulant children as a preschool teacher in the future.

 

Seokmin speaks calmly in his Intervention Voice™, something usually only used when Minghao and Mingyu were arguing.

 

“What Myungho here wanted to say was, well, at some point you’re going to have to acknowledge your feelings for Wonwoo hyung. We just want to know what you plan to do about it.”

 

Mingyu sputters incredulously. His feelings for Wonwoo were a subject even he didn’t dwell on too often, barely processing them, and brushing them off at even the slightest times they come into mind. So how the hell did his friends catch on so quickly?

 

“Me? And Wonwoo hyung? There’s nothing between–”

 

“Tell the truth, Mingyu.” Minghao cuts him off sharply, and Mingyu doesn’t know why he even tries hiding anything from Minghao anymore. They’ve been best friends since middle school, but it felt a lot longer, especially with how well Minghao knew him. Even if it were the slightest thing that was off about him, Minghao would know right away. Seokmin was usually quick to catch on as well, and together, they all made the best support system for each other.

 

Both of them look at him purposefully, waiting for an answer.

 

Mingyu sighs. The truth? The truth was that he liked Wonwoo. That's what it was, wasn't it?

 

That was the simple truth. He liked Wonwoo, liked his taste in literature and music, even though he himself hasn’t really been into those things that much. Liked his annoying uncle jokes and the way he smiled when Mingyu laughed at them. Liked the way his kisses were warm and sweet, tasting of cola. Liked his thoughtfulness and how he made it so easy to talk about things he'd always found so difficult to voice out.

 

Liked him so much that he'd cross dimensions almost every day to see him.

 

But he was scared too. He was scared of so many things. He was scared that he might ruin whatever friendship they’d built over the summer; that if he confessed, Wonwoo might close himself off to him, and that the distance would be even greater than two separate realities bisected by a ley line. He was scared about what came next. If he confessed, then what?

 

What happens if Wonwoo rejects? What happens if he accepts? How would they go about it then? Assuming he did, how would they even keep in contact like regular couples do? He wishes there were some kind of book or Wikipedia page written for people who had to deal with a crush on someone from another dimension. There were so many fears that came with it. So many things that kept him wondering what course of action he should take next.

 

However, most of all, he only feared losing Wonwoo. It was a fear so powerful that it blanketed his thoughts and feelings in denial for the longest time. It was a fear that picked at him, bothered him and kept him awake late nights when he couldn’t turn off his brain.

 

He tells Seokmin and Minghao the same, feeling a burden lift off his chest now that it’s all out there. Minghao is the first to approach Mingyu and give him a comforting hug.

 

“It’s alright, Gyu, we’re here. We’ll help you figure this out.” he says, rubbing Mingyu’s back soothingly. Seokmin joins their hug two seconds later, and a warmth spreads inside him, knowing that win or lose, at the end of the day, he still has his two best friends in the world backing him up.

For the first time in days, he feels like it’s all going to turn out okay.

* * *

To Mingyu's great surprise, it's Wonwoo who confesses first. It was almost frustrating seeing as he'd already had a confession on the tip of his tongue, which had been building up the past few days up to that afternoon. 

 

Ever since their kiss, things were a bit off between them. Sure, he still visited regularly to hang out, but there was suddenly an unspoken tension surrounding the room. He could feel Wonwoo clamming up, becoming a lot more reserved than how he usually was around Mingyu. And it wasn’t like he knew exactly how to approach the situation either, but he knew that at some point, they had to talk about it. Maybe also talk about their respective feelings when the awkwardness got out of the way.

 

For almost the entire afternoon, Mingyu had lied down and stared at the ceiling, gathering up his courage and waiting for good timing.    
  
Wonwoo clears his throat, his hands nervously fiddling with the cotton hem of his shirt. "Remember when you said you'd shoot my clone if he told you he liked you?"   
  
Mingyu hums idly, eyes still trained on the ceiling, and responds. "I remember my exact words being 'profess their undying love', but go on."   
  
Wonwoo is pensive, seemingly weighing his next words in his head, before speaking them out loud. "Maybe..don't shoot just yet." he says a bit quietly, but loud enough that Mingyu could hear.   
  
Mingyu looks at him directly and blinks, still trying to process Wonwoo's words. Surely, it can't be–right? "Are you...? Professing your undying love?" he jokes half-heartedly.   
  
"Wha- No, I'm not–I'm just...What I'm trying to say is that I like you, Kim Mingyu."    
  


Mingyu stares, shell-shocked, and tries to think of something to say, but can’t find the words. Wonwoo tears his gaze away from him, a bit embarrassed, and he wishes he could make him understand that he felt the same way, but his voice betrays him and his mind merely draws blank.

 

Unfortunately for him, time runs out, and before he could say or do anything, Mingyu is forced back into his own reality.   
  


 

He’s left looking at the empty space where Wonwoo stood just two seconds ago in disbelief. His mind was racing at the gravity of the situation, and how he possibly messed everything up by not being able to respond immediately. 

 

Panic settles in. Wonwoo must probably be thinking it was a rejection from him, when in reality, he was just too tongue-tied to say it back.

 

He was at a loss for what to do next, wondering whether or not it mattered anymore since it looked like he couldn’t do anything ‘til the next day. But Wonwoo likes him. Wonwoo  _ likes  _ him, and that had to count for something. 

 

He tries keeping a clear head and ends up dialling Minghao. If anyone was more familiar with this whole thing anyway, it was Minghao. 

 

He tells him everything in a rush of breath, heart uneasy with discord. Minghao listens quietly on the phone and allows him to pour out the overpowering emotions that filled him up right then. 

 

“Calm down and repeat that to me slower, okay?”

 

Mingyu takes a deep breath and repeats himself, more steadily this time, skipping through the unnecessary details of his earlier version of the story. Minghao listens through it all, keeping him calm and reassuring him that everything would be fine.

 

Mingyu sighs. “But what if, after this he decides that he doesn’t like me after all? He’s going to think about how shitty I am for not responding immediately and that’s probably going to lead to him realizing that I’m annoying and immature and–” 

 

Minghao cuts him off right away when it sounds like he was about to start degrading himself. “Hey, you aren’t any of that, okay? Plus, I’ve met Wonwoo hyung a couple of times, and I know he doesn’t think rashly. Feelings can’t just go away after a day, Gyu.”

 

He was right, and Mingyu knew it. Still, a little part of him couldn’t help but be scared of it all. 

 

“I just–I like him  _ so much _ , Haohao. And I don’t know what to do from here.” he says, sounding tired and frustrated.

 

Minghao’s silent for a while, the way he gets when he’s thinking deeply. The pause gives Mingyu the quiet he needs to compose himself once again. 

 

After a while, Minghao’s voice comes through the line again. “Remember what I told you about hours with the most spiritual properties?” he asks.

 

And of course Mingyu remembers, it’s how he gets through to the other reality every other day, after all. 

 

“You said that the lines become active during dusk.”

 

“Dusk is only one of those hours in the day. If you really want to see him earlier, you can try going at Dawn.” Minghao suggests, and it hits him. 

 

Wonwoo needed to know. Wonwoo  _ deserved _ to know, and if that meant getting up and chasing the hours before dawn to tell him sooner, then so be it. 

 

That night, he asks Minghao and Seokmin to sleep over as a favor, to lessen the chances of his parents coming inside his room and discovering that he’d snuck out. They happily agree, promising to cover up for him if the situation called for it. 

 

He leaves an hour before dawn, sneaking out successfully with Minghao’s assistance. It was still dark outside, with the hum of the streetlights and the occasional faraway screeching of a cat being the only noise heard on the usually busy streets. 

 

A hint of exhaustion permeates his system from the lack of sleep, but he shakes it off, more focused on chasing the time down correctly until dawn. 

 

The train carriage was hauntingly empty, save for the occasional drunk passed out on the seats or the tired office worker coming home from the night shift. He tries thinking of everything he wanted to say, giving himself a mental pep talk at the same time.   
  
It's a short train ride, with the site of the house being only two stations over, but it wasn't short enough to calm him down and let his nerves settle from the buzzing.   
  
He runs, runs all the way uphill to the house where ley lines met. He runs with all intention of beating the first peak of sunlight over the city's skyline. Blood rushes in his veins, carrying every bit of adrenaline and courage that his heart pumps out.    
  
When he reaches the house, he waits inside the dusty room, trying to catch his breath and compose himself. When the lines finally wake up, the surroundings fade in around him, and Wonwoo’s sleeping form is the first thing he sees. 

 

He walks over and kneels by his bedside, running a gentle hand through Wonwoo's hair. "Wake up, hyung." he says, softly yet urgently, shaking him awake gently.   
  
Wonwoo stirs and opens one of his eyes lazily, peaking at Mingyu. He frowns in sleepy confusion, probably caught in between the haze of being awake and thinking it was dream. Wonwoo brings a hand up to his eyes and rubs them of sleep. He blinks again, now a bit more aware of his surroundings.    
  
"What time is it? How are you here right now?" Wonwoo says, noting the soft blue light of the early morning peaking through his blinds.    
  
"It's early, hyung. Really early.” he says, fiddling with the loose thread on the deep green comforter. His eyes meet Wonwoo’s sincerely. “I just came to tell you that I like you too."   
  


Mingyu holds his breath and waits for him to say something back.    
  


Wonwoo yawns and sits upright, stretching his arms. "This co uldn't wait till afternoon?" he says with a sleepy grin on his face.   
  
Mingyu hits him lightly on the shoulder. "Ah, don't be like that, hyung, I snuck out and ran all the way here just to tell you." he says, pouting afterwards.   
  
Wonwoo doesn't say anything and instead moves to make space for him on the bed. He gestures for Mingyu to climb in, and Mingyu follows, burying himself in the warm blanket.

 

They both sink down on the bed from their upright positions, and Mingyu takes the initiative to hold Wonwoo close to him. He takes Wonwoo’s hand in his and presses a light kiss to the base of his palm. 

 

They stare at each other in silence, basking in the quiet chill of the early summer morning and just sharing each other’s warmth. Mingyu is the first to speak up.

 

“I can’t believe you actually like me. Like, for my personality and everything.” he teases, grinning widely.

 

“I know, I was shocked too.” Wonwoo snickers, nose crinkling up the way Mingyu liked. 

 

Mingyu rolls his eyes fondly and adjusts himself on the bed, a bit unsure where to put his too-long limbs. He found that once he was comfortable in one position, it would only last five seconds until he needed to shift again to accommodate even weight distribution on his limbs. 

 

Wonwoo stares amusedly at this display for a while until he grows impatient and traps Mingyu’s legs between his, both to fix his position ultimately and also keep him from fidgeting too much.

 

Mingyu blinks at him in surprise but drapes an arm over his chest, burying his face in the crook of Wonwoo’s neck. 

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t say it back right away, hyung. I was really surprised.” Mingyu apologizes, voice a bit muffled, but not so much that it was incoherent to Wonwoo. 

 

“You’ve worked hard, Kim Mingyu.” he snickers while threading his fingers through Mingyu’s hair.

 

Mingyu closes his eyes and feels the adrenaline in his system fading, giving way to the physical exhaustion of catching an early train and running uphill. 

 

They fall into a light sleep all cuddled up like that, waking up periodically to adjust the sheets or shift their positions on the small bed.

 

Mingyu wakes up just as the first rays of sunlight fell on the cream walls. He rouses Wonwoo as well, knowing there wasn’t much time left. He wanted to say a proper goodbye this time, seeing as he wasn’t able to the last time they saw each other. 

 

"See you later at dusk?” Wonwoo asks tentatively. 

  
"See you." Mingyu replies, suddenly feeling awkward despite himself. Should he lean in to kiss him goodbye? Were they even at that stage yet? Then again, they’d already kissed before and were cuddling just now. A kiss on the cheek was more appropriate, maybe? 

 

Deciding to just go for it, he quickly surges forward at the same time that Wonwoo goes in, ending up with them headbutting each other painfully. 

 

They both reel back and rub the painful spots on their heads, laughing. Feeling more confident now, Mingyu takes another shot at stealing a kiss, this time planting it on the tender spot on Wonwoo’s forehead. For a moment, Mingyu thanks every known and unknown force in the universe that he and Wonwoo’s miniscule height difference was perfect for forehead kisses.

 

He pulls back, grinning shyly.

 

"We have a long way to go, don't we?"   
  
Wonwoo smiles at him softly, genuinely, with eyes reflecting every bit of happiness that Mingyu himself was feeling at that moment.   
  
"Yeah, we do. But hopefully two universes have enough time for us to get it right."

 

Mingyu’s heart soars, and he watches the scene before him disappear, just as the first rays of sunlight touch the dusty floor. They’d meet each other again at dusk, Mingyu smiles at the thought. 

 

Somehow, that promise was enough for now. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> minghao: hey there demons. it's me, ya boi
> 
> also let's pretend i actually know enough about ley lines to write whatever this was
> 
> the words in bold and italics under portion headings are lines from an excerpt of a letter in lemony snicket's ["the beatrice letters"](https://gatheringbooks.org/2011/02/14/a-loveletter-to-end-all-loveletters-lemony-snickets-the-beatrice-letters/) and the title is from passion pit's "lifted up (1985)"
> 
> as always, my never-ending love and gratitude to yanna, the seok to my hao, for helping me with this ♥


End file.
